Things better left unsaid

:: massed flailing :: NOooooooooo. :(

GYPSY to Close Early on January 11, 2009
by BWW News Desk

The award winning, critically acclaimed smash hit production of GYPSY, originally announced to close on Sunday, March 1, 2009, will now play its final performance at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street) on Sunday, January 11, 2009.

( Read more... )

August 17, 2008

Off the Stage, What's Behind the Music
By SUSAN ELLIOTT

YOU can hear the collective gasp from the audience as the stage of the Vivian Beaumont slides back to the opening bars of “Bali Ha’i,” revealing 30 formally attired musicians reveling in the lush, exotic hues of the overture to “South Pacific.”

The melodies that roll seamlessly by — “There Is Nothing Like a Dame,” “A Wonderful Guy,” “Some Enchanted Evening” — are all classic Richard Rodgers. But the instruments playing them, the elaborate counter lines, shifting harmonies and alternating rhythmic contexts, are the work of Robert Russell Bennett, his orchestrator. Mr. Bennett wrote the overture, too (as he did for virtually all of his clients, including Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Frederick Loewe), weaving together excerpts of the score’s famous melodies to create a seamless potpourri of its greatest hits. Similarly, Sid Ramin’s original orchestrations bring to life Jule Styne’s score for “Gypsy,” now playing with the full complement of 25 pieces at the St. James Theater.

( Read more... )

Gypsy Cast Will Head Into the Recording Studio May 5

By Andrew Gans
May 2, 2008

The cast of the current, acclaimed revival of Gypsy — including Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and Boyd Gaines and two-time Tony nominee Laura Benanti — will head into a Manhattan recording studio May 5 and 6 to preserve the Stephen Sondheim-Jule Styne score.

The CD will be released on the Time-Life Records label, according to a spokesperson for the company. An August 2008 release is currently scheduled.

The recording will boast songs cut from the original Broadway production of Gypsy: "Three Wishes for Christmas," "Momma's Talking Soft," "Nice She Ain't," "This Is Mother's Day," "Smile Girls," "Who Needs Him?," and an alternate version of "This Is Mother's Day," all featuring new orchestrations penned by Jonathan Tunick.

( Read more... )